Hey guys ! First Time I post a guide around here so I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. I've been playing for about 2 years and I usually build around specific items to see if I can make them work together. But without any further ado let's head into the build guide ! (sorry if I make any language mistakes english isn't my mother tongue).

The build

So the character is a Gladiator named Uber_Meme_Viable using only Double strike for both clear and single target. We manage to get some really good damage with a unique interaction between the Coward's Legacy unique belt and some other unique items that add properties while you are on low life. The Belt curses us with Vulnerability which is usually a bad thing in exchange of the "Low Life" status. We counter the negative effects of the belt with a Watcher's Eye to gain full benefits from it and activate "Low Life" mods on other items (Dreadbeak and Daresso's Shield).

The clear is handled with a combination of Ancestral Call, Melee Splash and the bleed explosions comming from the gladiator ascendancy.This can be a bit of a pain for some players to swap gems for single target but for my personnal experience I didn't need to swap to heavy single target until T14 - T15 maps.

As a defensive trait we go armour (with or without Iron Reflexes) and Block (78/79).

The damage output is only physical (no stat stick required).

If you feel ok with this much explanations here is the PoB link : https://pastebin.com/cVatrxRi

1- Pros and Cons

Spoiler

Pros :+ Decent Clear Speed+ Tanky with all the block comming from the Gladiator ascendancy+ You only need to dodge the heavy hits (just in case)+ Shaper and Guardians are a breeze (all done deathless just care about chimera)+ Can start really cheap and clear all red maps without any problem+ Leveling is easy

Cons :- Requires a lot of unique items so capping resistances can be a bit of a struggle)- Gem Swap for heavy bosses

For order priority I suggest :
- Iron Reflexes for early tankiness
- Resolute Technique + One Handed Damage wheel near the marauder. This allows you to deal decent damage during the leveling process without having to specifically use a sword.
- When you can equip all of the items grab the sword nodes and head to the ranger part of the tree

I chose Oak but you can kill all for the 2 extra points its up to you personal preference.

3- Gear

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Mandatory unique items :

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This one is the star of our build ! It automatically curses you with Vulnerability but in exchange gives you the "Low Life" status even though you are not actually "Low Life" (below 35% health for those not knowing the threshold). it then allows us to use the following unique items at their full potential.

You'll need a Watcher's Eye with "Unaffected by Vulnerability while affected by Determination" mod. This will allow you to be cursed and gain the "Low Life" status without taking additionnal damage.

Our weapon is an unusual one : the Dreadbeak. You can get it with Navali's prophecies. The important thing about it is the 100% increased damage it gives (no need for explanation I guess) but more importantly the permanent "Onslaugh" status which frees one flask slot for another option than a Silver Flask.

Our shield is also unusual since it is often used only as a leveling item (when you have no other option lets be honnest) or as a cheap MTX. But in our case its a REALLY good shield.
IT ALLOWS US TO GAIN 2 ASCENDANCY POINTS.
Since its gives us 120% of Block Chance applied to Spells, its even better than the "Versatile Combattant" Gladiator node and thus allows us to go on both the Block and Bleed paths.

Other Items :

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All other items can be rares but there are some options that can be good to consider.

The classic Chest piece. It gives Life and all Resistances which helps us well as a melee character.
It also gives us more life flasks effects for better survivability.

Impresence gives us a good damage boost and a free curse.

Mark of the elder gives us a good damage input but you absolutely need a shaper ring in the other slot for it to be really useful to our build.

For raw damage on bosses.

Also think about the "Panicked" flasks since they'll always trigger at their maximum effect considering you are "Low Life" !

ATTENTION YOU CAN'T USE "OF WARDING" FLASKS AS IT WILL REMOVE VULNERABILITY AND THUS ALL OF THE MECHANICS OF THIS BUILD

My Gear :

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Please notice that my currentgear still has room for upgrade but its a bit expensive. For example a good shaper ring with "Reduced effect of curses" to counter balance the Coward's Legacy's downside.
Another good upgrade would be a "Resolute Technique" Corruption on the Dreadbeak which would save us 2 more points on the passive tree.

Do not hesitate to tell me in the comments if you see another goo option concerning the gear.

Hey, this looks interesting. Only thing is, you should add link to pob. Also, what's your block? Sorry if you already have it and I just didn't see it.
Edit: wow I'm blind, now I see your pob link, but anyway could you tell me your block? Can't check it right now.

Hey! The base block chance (without having blocked an attack or spell recently or Tempest Shield activated) is 58%. Base spell block chance is 70%.
Once you block one of each or get tempest shield they go respectively to 78% and 79%.
I did add it in the number section though thanks for the notice!

I toyed around using the same mechanic the other day as a reaver, not the same build as OP, but here's a video proving it works. Notice my damage goes way up with the belt on, that's from the "100% increased damage when on low life" from the dreadbeaks

https://streamable.com/lxlrm

It still shows me affected by vulnerability with the jewel on, the only question is, is it actually still harming us, I've done maps, guardians and shaper and it doesn't feel like it.

Hey thanks for the feedback! I can assure you that the numbers are correct in what I said but I'll still add the screenshots when I'll be able too.
Concerning vulnerability it's all in the wording. The jewel says "unaffected". That means you don't get the effects of it but you can still be cursed and gain the belt's effects.

Just beware you cannot use the "of warding" flasks since it actually removes vulnerability.

Interesting concept. Have you tried using Bloodlust on your DS and Chance to Bleed on your totem? I believe it would be higher DPS on bosses and not a noticeable loss of damage to clear trash.

I think that might be an interesting swap for heavy bossing only. Concerning the trash clear it would be awful since I couldn't get the bleed explosions and losing this is a huge drawback for the clear speed.